We haven't hesitated to call a politician a dunderhead if he does something stupid with respect to Passenger Rail. By this definition, President Bush is a dunderhead.
The dictionary defines dunderhead by using only synonyms: Dunce, blockhead, numbskull. The Internet dictionaries go beyond this with more vulgar synonyms: S---head and f---head. Nonetheless, you get the idea.
Going back two posts to where we asked readers and fellow bloggers to ask some questions of your associates and send us the results, we have yet another use for the questions. In studying for next week's elections, you should study what your candidate's answers would be to those questions.
We would bet that every candidate out there gets a low mark when it comes to these simple questions regarding the utility of Passenger Rail.
Don't get us wrong, because we disagree with President Bush ONLY when it comes to his position on Amtrak. In general, we tend to agree with the conservative political point of view.
There is a commentary in the current issue of Railway Age. (The link takes you to the article.) The commentary is a certain expression of fear that there are no electable politicians that know enough about railroading to keep the industry rolling on a solvent, predictable, and positive path. We fear that the same is true for Passenger Rail in particular.
So, whoever (or whatever) you vote for in next Tuesday's elections, don't just assume that your Representative or Senator will do you justice when it comes to Passenger Rail. When the election smoke has cleared and all the dunderheads are firmly in office for another 2 or 6 years, start to write, email and fax them about where you want them to stand on Passenger Rail. And when you do, don't harangue about what you want, but educate them about the history and business of Passenger Rail.
Unfortunately, more and more these days, we have no choice but to elect a dunderhead.
© 2006 - C. A. Turek - mistertrains@gmail.com
3 comments:
One reason there aren't polititions who understand passenger rail issues is that rail is no longer part of the public conciousness.
OK, a problem. How do we fix it?
Freight railroads could do much more to be visible, including advertising, running special trains and upgrading their PR operations. It would help them.
More passenger trains would help even more. Even better: trains that are clean and on-time.
We've forgotten that part of the struggle to advance passenger rail is a one of capturing the public imagination.
We will comment on some of what you say in a future blog.
Quiz answers for DeKalb and Macomb, Illinois here
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